Dominoes
by Clausius
Summary: Amu is now in middle school, and through missing the friends who had to move, hanging out with the friends that still remain, a new mystery arises that only the former Guardians and a strange new boy can solve...


Ah, I'm republishing this because I made a few little updates, and I also hope more people check this out. I didn't really have a lot of views… I know this is kind of rude, but forgive me, haha!

Um, hi there! I'm Clausius, and this is my first time writing a fic like this! I'm not really sure to classify it under… oh well. There's gonna be a bit of Amuto later on, and friendship Tadamu! Oh, and this is actually a crossover! I just want to keep what it's crossed over with a secret! Hopefully you guys'll know it =P Okay, on with the story!

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><p>For most kids, graduating from primary school to junior high was a momentous occasion. Amu didn't really think so. Mostly because her junior high was part of the whole academy, so she really wasn't moving on – just up. Most of her friends had graduated with her, and the few back down in lower grades she could see pretty much whenever she wanted. The classes were similar, even if the teachers were different, and the layout of the junior high campus was somewhat similar to what it was like back in elementary. Sure, they were a little stricter on uniforms, and sure, she and the other former Guardians lost all their power over the student body; but it was still familiar and comforting. So overall, it didn't feel like such a huge change.<p>

So much so, that it wasn't until about a month after she started classes did it click that, "Holy cow, I'm a junior high student now!" And that moment just happened to come as she was eating breakfast with her family. And naturally, she happened to say that out loud.

Her mother, Midori, smiled awkwardly. "Why yes, Amu dear, and Ami is an elementary school student now." Amu's little sister thrust her arm in the air with a cheer.

Amu's face flushed red the instant she realised what she said, but in a slightly lame attempt to hide that fact she crossed her arms and looked away. "Yeah, well, I just wanted to make sure you remembered!" She frowned as soft giggling met her ears.

"Really, Amu?" snickered a tiny, blue, fairy-like apparition, floating in the air a little way away from her shoulder. "You just figured that out?"

"She's just really excited! It's okay, Amu!" squealed another, this one pink. Despite her encouraging words, she couldn't help the giggles falling out. Two more of these tiny girls, one themed green and one themed yellow, tried to politely stifle their laughter.

"You guys," she hissed, face growing brighter. She swiped in their general direction, but with more peals of laughter they scattered away. As if sensing something, young Ami joined in.

"Amu's Shuper Charas are being mean!" she said, sing-song. Midori didn't quite notice what her youngest daughter had said, as she was enwrapped in preparing more pancakes.

Amu glanced over at her little sister, who was now stuffing her cheeks with fluffy, fried goodness. "Can she still see you guys?" she mumbled through her own mouthful of pancake.

"Not really," replied the yellow one, stubby arms behind her back. "She can sort of remember us, but that's really it until her own Heart's Egg develops." That thought made Amu drop her fork onto her plate with a clatter. What kind of person would her hyperactive, hyper-cute little sister wish to be? For some reason, the words "INCREDIBLY ANNOYING" rushed into her mind. She cleared that out with a vigorous shake of her head.

Yes, in this world children with an overwhelming desire to discover who they really were gave birth to small, pixie-like figures who helped guide their life. Every child in the world had this opportunity but only the truly strong-willed yet uncertain could produce them from the egg they held in their hearts. They were called "Guardian Characters", but more colloquially "Shugo Charas", perhaps because they were first noticed and most prevalent in Japan. They were able to influence their "parent's" behaviour subtly through the process called "Character Change". This allowed them to act uninhibited from their normal self, and to do things they usually would not. For those with a desperate desire to change themselves (and perhaps through the aid of some magical artefacts), they were able to fully use the power of their Charas and change themselves completely for a short period of time – not to mention they were able to use magical powers. Such an occurrence was uncommon, though. Unfortunately, for all the good it did to the blessed, the ones who had lost sight of themselves… their dreams, their wishes; the egg of their heart corrupted and was marked with an "X". However, a certain few even amongst the few who had birthed Charas were able to cleanse them and return the X-Eggs to their owners, to strike up a new lease on life.

Most children who had Charas only had one, and for the indecisive two. Amu Hinamori was "blessed" with a total of four Charas, each embodying a facet of who she thought she might become in the future. The eldest yet most childish was a pink-themed little cheerleader, ever energetic and raring to go. Her name was Ran, and was Amu's desire to be more outgoing and sporty. The second eldest was quiet yet occasionally cheeky, a blue-themed little artist named Miki. She was Amu's creative side, to express herself through the arts. The third was a gentle, motherly, but somewhat airheaded little green maid. This was Suu, and she was Amu's caring, wife-like side. The last, the youngest but most wise, was a yellow-themed singer. She had never truly revealed her name, but to everyone concerned she was Dia, Amu's will to shine brightly and go beyond herself. It had been a long ordeal, over two years to accept her Charas… losing them several times, experiencing the despair to place an X over Dia's egg, and overall just the fact they could be really irritating at times. But everything had quietened down by the end of her sixth (well, technically seventh) year of elementary school.

She had a lot of experience for a twelve-going-on-thirteen-year-old. She had collapsed evil companies, made friends with her enemies, fought against children's desire gone wrong, and even experienced the fleeting emotion of love. Not crushes, actual love. And that came in the form of a tall, handsome, blue-haired young man. Amu really didn't want to admit it, but the way her heart fluttered when she saw him and the warmth that always rose to her face told her to stop ignoring her feelings and to embrace them. Unfortunately, he had taken a trip around the world with an orchestra in order to find his father. Her heart ached to see him beside her once more, but she would have to wait. Until then, she had plenty of friends to fill the void.

"Amu, honey, it's time for you to go~!" piped up her father, who shoved a camera in her face. Her eyes widened in shock and in almost the same moment squinted from the bright flash. The young-looking thirty-something-year-old pouted at the screen. "Oh, this is terrible." He deleted the unflattering photo with a few button presses and looked his daughter in the eyes. "Come on, you need to take Ami with you!"

"Yeah, yeah," she sighed, standing up and swinging her bag over her shoulder. She motioned to Ami with her head, who leaped up and ran to the front door, giggling.

"We're off!" the two girls chanted, one audibly more excited than the other.

"See you soon!" came their parents' simultaneous reply.

As Amu ambled down the street, holding her sister's hand tight lest she run onto the road, her mind wandered off again. Her Charas chatted amongst themselves about matters which only really relate to Charas. Amu had a wide group of friends. She had always been a shy girl, but when she transferred into Seiyo Academy (Elementary Division), she had accidentally caused a wave of fangirls and boys to rise in her wake. They thought she was "Cool and spicy", whatever that meant. However, in a fit of worry over her lack of friends despite her numerous fans she had produced three Character Eggs. This was soon noticed by the student council – or the "Guardians" as they were known. They were a small group of children, each with a Chara who were dedicated to keeping the student population's dreams alive.

The King of the Guardians was a young man fawned over by most of the girls at the school, Amu silently included. His name was Tadase Hotori. He was somewhat effeminate yet had an aura of command. His desire was to become stronger, and more iron-willed – like a king. Thus his Chara Kiseki was born, a haughty little thing. Tadase seemed like a typical sweet boy but underneath lay a power complex, and an aversion to being called "Prince" as Amu had found out.

The Queen at the time she met her was Nadeshiko Fujisaki. She had seemed the sweet, princess type, but she was actually quite violent when she needed to be. She was also a boy. Amu had discovered that only a few months prior, when the boy she had assumed to be her twin brother whispered the fact into her ear at her teacher's wedding. He was in reality Nagihiko Fujisaki, a young boy who had to learn the art of dance even when he occasionally wanted to just be the boy he really was. He had rejoined the school the year after his trip, and had become the Jack of the Guardians. He was one of the few with two Charas, a Japanese-styled "ojou" named Temari, and a streetwise little punk named Rhythm. He had moved away before the start of the school year, and Amu missed him. One of her other friends, despite her protests, seemed to miss him more.

That was Rima Mashiro, the Queen after "Nadeshiko" had left to study dance overseas. She was a short and painfully adorable little girl, with a cold, haughty, and serious personality. Well, that was unless you knew her. Secretly, she was a huge fan of comedy shows. Her Chara, Kusukusu, embodied that with her cheerful, loud, clownish nature which still managed to clash with her owner's. Rima managed the tricky feat of being serious about comedy. She and Amu had clashed earlier on, but now they were very good friends. Rima did get a little bit possessive over her for some reason.

The last of her friends attending Seiyo Academy (Middle School Division) was the oldest, a year above her, the first Jack of the Guardians she had met. Kukai Souma was an energetic, sporty young man with a grin always on his face. He was always trying something new, usually some obscure sport from Australia or something along those lines. His Chara, Daichi, was very similar to him but had the prowess to excel at any sport he wanted. He was the one to give the former Guardians tours of the school. Admittedly, Amu still found herself getting lost pretty often. Seiyo, in all of its divisions, was huge.

"Amu~!" whined Ami, tugging at her sister's arm. She snapped out of her reverie. She was in front of the elementary school gates, children from kindergarten to sixth year milling about within the grounds. Amu glanced at her little sister.

"You'll be okay to go by yourself?" she asked. Ami's face lit up in a huge grin and nodded vigorously. The tiny brunette dashed off, gave a quick wave to her sister and fell out of Amu's sight.

She must have been in another daze, because one of her Charas was poking her cheek with a fluffy pompom. "Amu, Amu, come on!" piped up Ran, ceasing her tiny assault and hovering in front of her eyes.

"Ah, sorry," Amu chuckled, shaking her head free of the swirling thoughts. She and her Charas chatted idly as she walked the extra mile or so to reach the middle school campus. It was huge and beautifully tended, flowers springing up from plant beds as far as the eye could see. Trees in fruit dotted the grounds, and students were free to pick and eat them, provided they didn't throw them at each other. The school itself looked like a faux European castle without all the battlements and perhaps scaled smaller. The inside however spoke of an ordinary school, but fancier. Seiyo was really only for the financially advantaged.

Her own face lit up as she saw her group of friends. A brunet boy was cheerfully bragging about some sporting achievements to two short blonds, one boy and one girl. The brunet boy wore his uniform loosely, his blazer undone, exposing his white undershirt, and his blue second-year tie skewed. His long, black pants were rolled up to his shin. He was meant to be wearing leather shoes but instead he was wearing shiny white sneakers. The two blonds were in comparison much neater. They both had the green first-year tie tucked into their blazers. They wore the black skirt and black pants correctly, but on the girl the skirt reached a little lower than most. Amu's reached only halfway down her thighs, socks of whatever colour tended to cover the rest of her leg.

Slightly desperate for a distraction, the blond boy noticed her as she approached. "Ah, Amu!" he called with a wave. The other two turned to face her.

"Hey, Tadase! Rima! Kukai!" She returned Tadase's wave and jogged over to the other former Guardians.

"Commoner!" came a small, yet booming voice. Tadase's Chara Kiseki floated from behind his head, looking like the boy in miniature except for the purple hair and ornate clothing. "You dare not address your king?"

Without time to respond, Amu's Charas swarmed over him, teasing him gently, much to the amusement of Rima's Chara. She decided to ignore this for now. "So, what's been happening?" she asked.

"Well, I'm glad you asked!" grinned Kukai, puffing up his chest. Amu heard Rima sigh in annoyance. "You see, yesterday we were playing soccer, right? We were against some kids from one of those environmentally-safe-fancy-ass-modern schools, and they looked pretty tough for punks from such a sissy place. So anyway, I was playing center forward of course, when I saw their goalie and Jesus Christ he was a friggin' gorilla! Sissy-fancy-ass-modern-school is one of those selective ones for smart kids, so I'm like, 'How the hell did he get accepted?' And then I learn he's the captain and he helps make the strategies, so I'm like, 'Oh crap.' And the rest of my team looks pretty worried as well…" He trailed off, rambling, more interested in his story than the others were. Tadase turned to the pinkette.

"Well, actually, something interesting has come up," he explained. "Even though we're not Guardians any more, Tsukasa says he needs our help for something going on at the school."

Intrigued, Amu leaned forward. "What is it?"

Tadase shook his head. "He didn't tell me. He did say something about a kid transferring into our class, so I suppose it's another child with a Guardian Character." He shrugged, thin shoulders bobbing up. "I guess we have to show them the ropes."

Amu nodded in response. Transfer students were always important, she had observed. Herself, Kairi, Rima, so on and so forth… It seemed the only kids who transferred into Seiyo were orchestrated by the First King, Tsukasa.

"It's a bit late for a child to be birthing a Chara, though," came Rima's input. She was right; children usually hatched their heart's eggs during the preteen stage of life, ten to twelve. Most kids in first year junior high were almost thirteen.

"It's weird, so we gotta check it out!" Amu's Charas had finished playing with the others, and hovered around her head. It was Ran who spoke, excitement twinkling in her eyes.

"I wonder what they'll be like," mused Miki, chewing absentmindedly on the end of a pencil.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see~!" chirped Suu.

The rest of the before-school period passed in a blur, as Kukai realised no one was listening and angrily chastised them (to their mirth). The bell tolled lethargically, and droves of students shuffled slowly to their class. The Charas floated off to join their companions at the Royal Garden back at the elementary division – just because their owners weren't meant to be there doesn't mean the invisible Charas couldn't! Amu tagged along with Tadase to their class of 1-3. All three were annoyed that they weren't together (Rima was in 1-2), as they had come to truly appreciate each other's company. To add salt to the wound, Amu and Tadase sat at opposite corners of the room – well, practically. She and the boy shuffled into their oddly cosy classroom and split towards their seats; Tadase to the far right and one behind the front, Amu to the seat one from the back and one from the left. She swung her bag onto the small hook that protruded and slumped down with a sigh. The novelty of middle school had all but worn off.

Students trickled into the room and the noise level rose and rose as everyone clamoured to talk to their friends about what they had posted on Facebook at two in the morning. Amu settled down and stared idly at some kids playing catch with a screwed up ball of paper. She was barely able to register the bell tolling a second time, and it seemed no one else noticed either. The teacher, a small, mousy thing, rushed into the room, papers flying everywhere. She was nice enough, but Amu for some reason missed Mr. Nikaidou and his constant teasing. The teacher said something, but the class was still chatting, laughing, and yelling. With thin lips, she straightened her back and prepared to yell herself.

"Everyone!" the teacher cried above the din. As it subsided, she cleared her throat and continued on. "Today we have a new student joining us. Please come in!" Amu sat up suddenly. This must be the child Tadase was talking about.

A small boy walked in, a gentle smile on his face. His hair was snowy, but the tips hinted of a soft red or pink. Bangs which would've fallen beyond his nose were brushed to the side. His eyes, a little too wide, were ruby red and shone with a similar intensity. The class stared back at the young man, not quite sure what to make of him just yet.

"Hello," he started, breaking the tension. His voice was still high and somewhat girlish. "I'm Akiteru Kuramochi." He glanced over at the teacher, who encouraged him to continue. "Let's see… about me. I moved over here because of work. I enjoy science and math, as strange as that may sound. I'm a bit of an environmentalist, sort of. I hope you'll all take care of me." He finished with a bow. The class clapped politely. At the back of her mind, Amu felt it was wrong that this wasn't accentuated with girlish squeals (from both sexes), as the past few times she'd seen a transfer student be introduced (including herself!) the class would devolve into squabbling over what they thought of the new kid. But there was something subtly unsettling about him. Amu couldn't put her finger on it.

"Thank you, Mr. Kuramochi," the teacher smiled. "We have a free seat right at the back, behind Ms. Hinamori. Ms Hinamori, could you raise your hand to help?" Still entranced with finding out what she didn't like about the boy, she numbly raised her arm above her head. The boy smiled a little wider and loped steadily to his new seat. Amu couldn't take her eyes off his as the boy made his short journey. It wasn't until she was fully twisted around and he tilted his head, as if confused. A small wave of heat covered her face as she turned back to the front.

Lessons started as normal, English being the first subject of the day. Amu found herself taking rather haphazard notes until there was a soft jab on her back. She turned to the boy who pointed to a screwed up ball near her feet. Amu, without trying to bring attention to herself, snaked her hand down the leg of her chair and snatched it up. She placed it in her lap, and unscrewing it, read the message to herself.

"Hi, you must be Amu Hinamori, right? Tsukasa told me to catch up with you guys and tell you to meet him at lunch today, at the Observatory. I'm Akiteru, but I don't mind people calling me Teru. I'm just a little informal like that. Well, I hope we get along! :3"

The sketch he had done at the end of the note was kind of cute, but held that same weirdness as the boy himself. Amu nodded, hoping Teru could tell what she was doing. The rest of the day passed as normal, teachers droning on or going onto rants about things that hardly related to the subject matter. Eventually, it was lunch time and as Tadase approached her desk with his bento, Teru stood up and held his hand out to the other boy.

"You're Tadase Hotori, right?" he grinned. Amu noticed he was slightly smaller than the blond, which was actually quite a feat.

"Yes. And you're the one we're meant to meet, Akiteru Kuramochi?" Tadase gripped the white-haired boy's hand and shook it.

"Please, call me Teru!" he said, his hands coming to rest behind his back. He looked at both in the eyes. "We need to go find your friend. Rima Mashiro, and meet Tsukasa at the Observatory."

Tadase nodded calmly, but then proceeded to ask something that surprised Amu. "Why does he want us to be with you, though? You… your heart is completely empty." Amu stared at Teru in shock. Now that she thought about it, that was probably what she felt when he was around. The void in his heart. It was highly unusual for someone to have nothing, usually children had at least a plain, unmarked egg. But there was nothing in Teru.

"Ah," he stated, as if expecting this. "You see, I was born without a Heart's Egg and I have no desire to develop one; I'm happy with who I am. However I can actually see Charas and eggs despite this… I've always been able to. It's for this fact Tsukasa recruited me."

Amu and Tadase both looked unsure, but with a glance at each other decided to accept this for now. Tadase suddenly waved at the doorway. The short, blond girl was standing there, western-style lunch box in hand. The brunet boy rested his elbow on her head. "Rima, Kukai!" he called. "This is who I talked about!"

Introductions were had yet again. "Shall we be off, then?" asked Teru, rocking backwards and forwards slightly. The group nodded, and they began their trek to the old, abandoned observatory. It sat on the border of the elementary and the middle school, a black building rising up high. Amu had quite a history here. She had learnt so much from its caretaker, the first King of the Guardians, Tsukasa. And speak of the devil, he was standing there right in front of the entrance.

He had quite a resemblance to his nephew Tadase, his hair a few shades darker, and was of course much taller. He was perhaps in his mid or late twenties, but looked fantastic for his age, Amu mused. His clothes were plain. Teru waved at him to grab his attention.

"Ah, my former little guardians," he chirped. "I see you've met Akiteru. Excellent. He is surprisingly knowledgeable about the Guardian Character system, and I think someone detached from the whole thing could be quite useful."

"What do you want us do to, anyway?" Amu asked, impatient. She had been kept in the dark for a little too long.

"Well," Tsukasa chuckled, "I know your responsibilities in middle school have drastically reduced, but that's simply because the whole issues with self-identity are less in middle school, not to mention Easter has been reformed. Yet," he looked dark for a moment, "some kids at your school have had their hearts turn dark. I don't think we noticed this because they transferred in."

"Well, that's not much to call us all out for," Amu noted.

"Ah, of course. But the thing is, they're not ordinary X-Eggs. I'm quite sure they were fully developed Charas that corrupted… much like your Dia, Amu." Tsukasa stared at them all coolly, and Amu looked away, not wanting to remember that incident. "But nothing bad has happened. Nothing at all. Nobody at the middle school show the signs of X-Egg depression, and the Charas have wreaked no destruction." The five kids listened on, incredibly intrigued. "As you know, I have very little sway over the middle school and high school, so I can't do any investigating by myself. I need you five to search for them. I believe there are three of them, and they're probably friends."

"So look for groups of three behaving funny?" Amu finished for him.

He nodded. "Precisely. Now, I want Tadase and Amu as one group, and Rima and Kukai as another, and Akiteru can explore by himself. Your Charas can help if they want… speaking of which, where are they?"

"Off playing," Tadase explained. "So pretty much, pair up, look for clues, and try and find them before something bad happens?"

"Precisely."

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><p>Blaaargh, that's one chapter all done!<br>Only… there's more to write!  
>Kinda wish there was an easier way to write all my thoughts down, but there's not.<br>Unless I invent one myself!  
>Well, I do perform well at school!<br>Anyway, thanks for reading!  
>I've wanted to break into writing fanfiction for some time.<br>Now I finally have!  
>Cause I've always admired people who do this.<br>Unlike writing regular fiction, it's easier to think when confined to a premade universe!  
>But characterization is kinda hard…<br>Aw, well, it's not like everything is easy!  
>Tell me, did you like this fic?<br>Or do you think I could improve?  
>Read and review!<p> 


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